This invention relates to a method for creating a blotchy bleached effect on fabric and/or garments.
Over the years, in response to changing fashion demands, various methods have been developed for patterning fabrics. An early example of such a method is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 1,024,668, which teaches a method for transferring a pattern of a color changing agent from a paper web to a fabric. The pattern may be formed on the paper web by application of discharges, which are agents for removing color from selected areas of a substrate which has been previously colored. The actual transfer of the pattern on the paper web to the fabric is effected in various ways, including employing a roller or the pressure of an engine. Such a method, however, employing large cumbersome machinery, is time consuming, labor intensive and costly.
U.S. Pat. No. 1,905,346 discloses a method of producing color effects on fabric, particularly fabric containing organic derivatives of cellulose, by discharge printing with an oxidizing agent. More specifically, the fabric is treated with a discharge paste including a thickening agent, e.g., cellulose ethers, and an oxidizing agent.
In other prior methods for imprinting textiles, a coloring agent floating upon the surface of a liquid bath is transferred to a fabric or garment so as to create a desired effect. U.S. Pat. No. 1,846,845 discloses a process and apparatus for imparting a variegated design to webs of air-porous material, particularly textile fabrics, wherein a design of color is floated on the surface of a carrier liquid, preferably water, and is taken off the surface by a web of the fabric to be patterned.
It is currently fashionable to create a blotchy bleached look on garments, in particular, denim fabrics. While many methods for bleaching fabrics are known in the art, the art has not heretofore provided a satisfactory, efficient, and inexpensive means for obtaining the blotchy bleached effect that is currently in demand.